


Stay

by th3blackcat



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, M/M, Moving On, but just a warning, klangst, not that graphic, there is blood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-05
Updated: 2016-11-05
Packaged: 2018-08-29 06:42:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,407
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8479192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/th3blackcat/pseuds/th3blackcat
Summary: I love you Lance. I love you till the end of space and time. I will always be with you. Now go. Live the rest of your life.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This happened at 1 am when I was emotional over nothing in particular. It's also gonna be the first in my song based series.

Lance was flying back to the castle as fast as Blue could go. He was thankful at times like this that Blue could fly herself. The tears in his eyes made it hard for him to see properly and his breath kept hitching, causing his entire body to jolt.

He lost track of the other members of Voltron somewhere behind, Lance wasn’t quite sure where. All he remembered was seeing Keith go down in a bloody mess. His bayard was piercing out of his stomach, forced there by a Galra soldier.

That’s when Lance lost all control. In that moment, he was running on pure adrenaline as he shot the Galra soldier before picking up Keith and heading to Blue. He looked at Keith and sat down next to him on the floor of the cockpit. He placed Keith’s head in his lap, scared that moving him anymore would worsen his already grave situation.

Blood.

There was so much _blood_.

Lance didn’t think he’s seen this much blood before in his life. His tears fell on Keith’s face, mixing in with the blood that was present there. Keith weakly moved his hand to wipe away Lance’s tears.

“You’re…such an ugly crier…” he croaked out.

Lance put his hand on top of Keith’s. He turned his head and kissed his palm. “Do-don’t talk. Save your e-energy.” He didn’t have it in him to fight with Keith.

“Lance.” Keith’s voice barely came out as a whisper.

“You’re not a-a-allowed to lea-ve me, Keith. Y-you promised.” Lance recalled Keith’s words from before they launched to fight the sudden Galra attack. _I’ll come back to you, I promise._

“I said…” Keith sucked in air. “I’ll come back.” He gave Lance a weak smile. Lance wasn’t even sure he could call that a smile. “I’m here.”

“This isn’t fu-funny!” As hard as Lance tried, he couldn’t control himself. He wanted Keith to be okay – he _needed_ Keith to be okay. He barely heard Blue in his mind when she said they were almost there.

“I-I need you to ke-ep holding o-on for a li-little longer. Can yo-you do that?” He was sniffling and his breathing was uneven.

Keith slowly looked up at Lance. “Yeah…”

Lance was holding Keith’s hand tightly while he tried to quiet down. His squeezed his eyes shut hoping that not looking at Keith would stop the tears. It wasn’t working.

“Lance?” Keith whispered.

Lance opened his eyes and looked at Keith. “Yes?”

“Do you remember…that god awful song…that you wouldn’t stop singing?”

Lance had to concentrate to hear Keith. He had been getting quieter and quieter, which worried Lance even more. “D-don’t bash on our s-ong.”

Keith smiled. “Sing to me?”

Lance nodded. He took a few deeps breaths to control his breathing, and begun once he knew he wouldn’t mess up the lyrics.

 _Settle down with me_  
_Cover me up_  
_Cuddle me in_

He was off-tune, and his voice cracked, but Lance was able to sing to Keith without fumbling over the words. He didn’t realize how much this song would mean to him. Keith would just hum it whenever Lance was missing home. Eventually, the song brought him comfort. It calmed him down whenever he laid on top of Keith and listened to the song echoing from his chest.

_Lie down with me  
And hold me in your arms_

Lance wanted nothing more than Keith to stay with him. He’d become dependent on the red paladin. Keith helped him stay sane after his life made a complete one-eighty. He couldn’t even imagine his future without Keith.

_And your heart’s against my chest, lips pressed to my neck_  
_I’m falling for your eyes, but they don’t know me yet_  
_And with a feeling I’ll forget, I’m in love now_

He could always find comfort in Keith’s silence. He preferred it to the loud parties that were thrown for team Voltron. He could spend wordless hours with Keith, as long as he knew Keith was there. He grew to love it – being able to just sit with each other, not needing to speak to enjoy the other’s company.

_Kiss me like you wanna be loved_

He found a new home in Keith’s arms. He was always there to help Lance come out of the darkness. Keith was his light, his shining star. What would Lance do if that light went out? How would he find his way?

_This feels like falling in love_

It was so easy with Keith. Everything felt so natural, so simple. Lance never expected much in the beginning. He never knew how hard he was going to fall. He never knew that he would be able to love someone with everything he had plus more.

_We're falling in love_

Keith had closed his eyes now. The smile he wore slowly faded from his face. Lance kissed Keith. He couldn’t leave him.

“Stay with me,” he whispered with a shaky breath as he rested his forehead on Keith’s. He caressed Keith’s cheek. It was cold to the touch and the dried blood had crumbled in his hand.

Blue had landed in the castle, as did the others. Shiro walked in, never expecting to witness the scene before him.

Lance looked at Keith, horror all over his face. He hugged the now lifeless body as his quiet sobs became uncontrollable. He called out for Keith, begging him to wake up. He clutched the body for dear life, asking him to open his eyes. His nails dug into Keith’s arms as he held the body closer to him. He gasped for air.

No one had the heart to stop Lance, but it had to be done. Hunk and Shiro managed to get Lance to let go of Keith’s body long enough so Coran could take Keith away.

It took countless hours to get Lance under control. He had lost his light. The one person who meant more than the world to him was gone. Everyone except Pidge took turns to watch over Lance. She couldn’t see him in that state.

* * *

 

Lance managed to leave his room about two weeks later. He hadn’t eaten much or gotten enough sleep to function normally, but he was trying. The first thing he did was go to Keith’s room. It was untouched. He found Keith’s favorite red jacket on his bed. He grabbed it and held it close while he looked around the small room. There wasn’t much, but he had a few pictures taped to the wall.

Lance lied down on the bed. It still smelled like him. He took a deep, shaky breath after curling up into fetal position.

“You asshole. You didn’t even say sorry for leaving. You shattered my heart, and I have to pick up the pieces myself. You always did that. You always fixed me. Shiro told me that I needed to slowly let you go –“ Lance hiccupped. Silent tears fell onto Keith’s pillow. Lance wipe his eye with the back of his hand.

His mind wandered back to the battle. He was trying to make his way over to Pidge since she was overwhelmed. He vaguely remembered Pidge telling him to forget about her and help Keith. Right when he turned to go help him, Lance saw the Galra turn Keith’s bayard around in his hand and pierce himself. Everything after that was fuzzy.

He let out a small laugh. “You would always end up singing to me whenever I was down. It was always the same song too. Our song…” Lance began to hum the chorus in a failed attempt to make himself feel better.

A scene flashed in his mind. Before they started dating, Lance would go to the observation deck whenever he was missing home. He would sit there, hugging his knees, trying to keep his mind off of the distance between him and his family. It was like any other day, except this day, Keith saw him while going back to his room after training. He quietly walked in and sat next to Lance.

 _“Everything okay?”_ Keith looked at him from the corner of his eye.

 _“Just leave me alone.”_ Lance pulled his knees in closer.

Keith sat there quietly. He didn’t leave, but he didn’t say anything. After a few moments had passed, Keith pulled Lance into a hug and began to hum. He petted Lance as he began to tear up. They stayed like that for while – Lance lost track of the time. Keith kissed the top of Lance’s head. Lance froze. It was the first time he thought that his feelings were actually returned by the mullet. It was the first time he spent hours in Keith’s arms. The first time he heard that song.

“Damn it. This is all your fault.” He sat up, still hugging the jacket. “I hate that song. I hate this feeling! I HATE YOU KEITH KOGANE!”

Pidge walked into the room slowly. She still couldn’t bring herself to look at Lance, but she couldn’t take this anymore. She needed to talk to him.

“No you don’t,” she said quietly.

“He’s actually gone Pidge,” Lance cried. “He left me. That bastard left me! I hate him.”

“Then why don’t you throw away his jacket?” she questioned.

Lance’s eyes widened. “It’s the last thing of his that I have... It still smells like him. I can’t let it go.”

“Because you love him, Lance. You could never hate Keith.” She carefully moved closer to him.

“When does it stop hurting?” He pulled his knees to his chest with the jacket in between.

“I’m not sure.” Pidge shuffled her feet. She was looking down, trying not to let her tears fall either. “I have something for you. Keith…wrote you a letter.” Before the mission, Keith had given her a letter. He told her to give it to Lance if something happened to him. Pidge didn’t know how Keith knew this would happen, but she agreed. She never opened it, nor did she tell anyone about it.

Pidge placed it on the foot of the bed and left Lance to read it alone. He stared at it for a while. He didn’t know what would be in it.

Lance finally persuaded himself to read it. Gingerly placing the jacket down, he picked up the letter and opened it. Keith’s familiar handwriting covered half the page.

_Dear Lance,_

_If you’re reading this, that means I’m dead. I can’t believe I’m actually writing this, but it needs to be done. I’ll keep it short too._

_You probably hate me right now. Because I didn’t stay like I promised? I’m always with you though. As long as you keep me in your heart, I’ll always be with you. Always._

_Just because I’m not here anymore, doesn’t mean life will stop for you. You need to move on. I can’t help you get up again, so this is my final attempt to do so. You have a team waiting for you. As long as you have them, you’re never alone. And they probably need you as much as you need them. Go. Do whatever you need to in order to get passed me, but don’t push everyone else away._

_I love you Lance. I love you till the end of space and time. I will always be with you. Now go. Live the rest of your life._

_Keith_

Lance could see the dries tears left on the page from Keith. Even in death, he managed to help Lance. He didn’t know how he would do it, but Lance knew he had to honor Keith’s wishes. He needed to be there for his team.

Lance collected himself before leaving both the jacket and letter on the bed. He walked out of Keith’s room and slowly made his way to the observation deck where everyone was.

Allura stopped talking when he walked in.

“Hey guys,” he said quietly with a small smile.

They welcomed him back with hugs and words of encouragement, but made sure to give him his space. Hunk refused to leave his side. Allura made sure he was comfortable with going back to training. Shiro watched over him and kept him from overexerting himself. Pidge and Coran made sure he was eating properly. They all did their best to try to ease him back into the life of a paladin.

He never joined them when they searched for a new red paladin. He stayed with Blue, most of the time crying.

The day finally came, a several months later, when they found a new red paladin. It had been tough, fighting the Galra without being able to form Voltron.

Lance refused to acknowledge them, sending snide remarks and glaring at them most of the time. Everyone tried to reason with Lance, but he wasn’t one to budge. Lance refused to listen to Red either.

He was moving Keith’s things to his room, since Coran wanted to move the newbie in there, when the letter fell onto the floor. Lance picked it up and went to the observation deck when he was finished. He looked out into space. It had been a while since thinking of Keith made him cry, but he felt an ache in his chest.

“We managed to form Voltron with that mind thingy today. It was only for a few seconds. Shiro was still happy.” Lance sighed and leaned his head against the glass. “I know you would want me to try. So I’m trying. I really am. I just…didn’t expect it to be this hard. But I’m managing.” There was a moment of silence. Lance could almost hear Keith telling him to stop living in the past and move on.

“I miss you.”

_“I never left you.”_

“Where are you now that I need you?” He let out a sad chuckle.

_Keith groaned. “God, don’t sing Bieber to me.”_

“I’ll do better.”

_“You’re doing the best you can.”_

“I’ll defeat them for you.”

_“Don’t kill yourself in the process.”_

“I’ll make you proud.”

_Keith grinned. “I already am.”_

Lance felt a hand on his shoulder causing him to jump a little. “Are you okay?” Coran asked.

Lance took a deep breath, but didn’t reply.

He turned to look at Coran. For the first time in months, Lance smiled and meant it. It wasn’t fake or forced. He had a new wind of determination.

He was going to be okay.

**Author's Note:**

> The song this fic was inspired by is called [Stay by BLACKPINK](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzVR_fymZw4). It's Korean btw.  
> The song Lance was singing is [Give Me Love by Ed Sheeran](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOjdXSrtUxA).  
> Lemme know what you think!


End file.
